The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday (December 16, 2025) released the draft electoral rolls of three states and two union territories under the ongoing Special Intensive Review (SIR) exercise, including West Bengal, which is slated to go to the 2026 assembly elections.
More than 58,000 names were removed from the existing electoral rolls in West Bengal, nearly 42,000 in Rajasthan, 10,000 in Goa, a little over a thousand in Puducherry and nearly 1,500 in Lakshwadweep.
Unlike the SIR exercise in Bihar, voters did not have to submit any of the 11 indicative documents to be included in the draft list under this phase, announced on 27 October. So the draft list would have the names of all the voters who submitted the census form.
ECI sources said that voters whose names are in the draft list will be issued notices in case of any doubt and may be asked to produce documents. The draft list also includes names of voters who could not be mapped on the 2002-2003 list when the SIR was conducted, as well as those who may have been incorrectly matched.
“The verification of each case will start now,” sources told The Hindu.
In West Bengal, 7.08 million (92.4%) voters – out of 7.6 million on the electoral rolls as of October 2025, before the SIR announcement – submitted census forms and were consequently included in the draft list. Of the deleted names, 24.16 lakh (3.15%) were dead, 32.65 lakh (4.26%) were found to have moved or were missing and 1.38 lakh (0.18%) were registered in multiple places.
In Rajasthan, out of 5.46 million voters on the existing list, 5.04 million (92.34%) were included in the draft list. Of the deleted names, 8.76 lakh (0.63%) were deceased voters, 29.6 lakh (5.43%) were those who had moved or were absent and 3.44 lakh (0.63%) were found registered in multiple places.
In Goa, 10.84 lakh (91.56%) out of 11.85 lakh names are on the proposal list. Of the names taken, 25,574 (2.16%) were deceased, 72,471 (6.12%) were found moved or absent, and 1,997 (0.17%) were recorded in multiple locations.
In the Union Territory of Puducherry, out of the existing 10.21 lakh names, 9.18 lakh (89.87%) are in the draft list. Of the deleted names, 20,798 were deceased, 80,645 were found moved or absent, and 2,024 were entered in multiple places.
Lakshadweep, the second Union Territory, has 56,384 (97.53%) names in the draft list out of the existing 57,813 voters. Of those omitted, 705 were dead, 252 were found displaced/absent, and 472 were those who enrolled in multiple locations.
The ECI said that the draft lists along with the detailed list of deleted voters and reasons for deletion have been made available on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the election portal of the Election Commission and the ECINET application.
The poll body said that if a voter does not find his name in the draft voter list, he has to fill Form 6 and submit it along with the required documents.
During the claims and objections period from December 16, 2025 to January 15, 2026, any current or prospective voter may submit claims or objections to the inclusion of eligible voters or the deletion of ineligible names. The verification phase will end on February 7. The final roles will be published on February 14.
ECI announced SIR 2.0 in 12 States and Union Territories. However, the exercise had to be postponed repeatedly, mainly due to the work pressure on booth-level officers to complete the enumeration phase. Many reportedly committed suicide or wanted to quit because of the pressure.
Published – 16 Dec 2025 21:37 IST
